A Jeep tour to energy vortexes, a Native American medicine wheel ceremony, an expedition to Hopi Prophecy Rock and a labyrinth meditation walk are some of the highlights of the program.

“Single people sometimes feel left out at Thanksgiving,” said Jack Schafer, Sales and Marketing Director of Body Mind Spirit Journeys. “So we thought the holiday long weekend would be a good time for spiritually-minded singles to enjoy a get-away to one of the most inspirational power sites on the planet.”

Clint Frakes, the tour host, has guided over 10,000 pilgrims around Sedona and the greater Southwest. He has an extensive knowledge of earth energy theories as well as the culture and traditions of Navajo, Apache, Hopi and other local indigenous peoples. Clint will conduct meditations, blessing and smudging ceremonies at sacred sites. He will also lead the group to Hopi Prophecy Rock, a mysterious ancient petroglyph (rock carving) said to foretell the fate of the human race.

The tour dates are November 23 through 27, 2011, and flights during holiday periods fill quickly, so those interested are advised to make reservations soon. The registration deadline is September 23, 2011.

For more information, complete itinerary and full details, visit http://bodymindspiritjourneys.com, call Body Mind Spirit Journeys toll free at 1-888-455-5678, or email: BMSJ@BodyMindSpiritJourneys.com.

Found in cultures spanning the globe, the earliest known labyrinth design was discovered on a clay tablet in Pylos, Greece, dating from 1,200 BCE. The Greek isle of Crete is also known for its labyrinth, the maze used to entrap the mythical Minotaur. During the Middle Ages labyrinth designs were incorporated into the floor patterns of Europe’s grand cathedrals, most notably in Chartes, and in the Renaissance, “branching” garden mazes became popular in the palaces of royalty. labyrinthsociety.org/

Today, labyrinths are being constructed around the world as a tool for personal growth and spiritual transformation. Practitioners use these sacred, earth-based paths to conduct walking meditations, focusing on an issue or concern that is addressed through contemplation or prayer.

This Summer in Taos, eight labyrinths will be available to walk, without charge, in connection with the town’s “Return to Sacred Places” travel destination theme. Beginning July 1st, and continuing through October, visitors are invited to be part of the reawaking of this spiritual tradition.

“New Mexico is one of the centers for this transformative spiritual energy,” says Sandra Wasko-Flood, visionary artist and founder of The Living Labyrinth Center for Peace (http://www.livinglabyrinthsforpeace.org). “And Taos, with its 1,000 year old Pueblo, is at the heart of this blossoming Renaissance.”

Wasko-Flood is curating many of the labyrinth-related activities including a photo exhibit of labyrinths from around the world that was first exhibited in the rotunda of the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC.

Rev. Wayne Mell, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Taos, is also an advocate for this form of walking prayer and has supported the construction of a labyrinth in the church’s front yard that will be dedicated on July 18. “Walking the labyrinth can be symbolic of a journey to the sacred center,” he says. “It’s a practice that can appeal to all ages and faiths, as more and more people explore their spiritual pathways.”

Katherine Costabel, who with her husband own the Adobe and Pines B&B, have constructed a beautiful 66-foot diameter labyrinth made of 4,670 pieces of slate and rimmed by 225 native plants. Having experienced her first labyrinth in Sedona, Arizona, Ms. Costabel believes that walking the path reminds one of her earthly journey. “Take something into the circle,” she says. “Walk, think and pray and see if you can come to a conclusion.” www.adobepines.com

Taos Labyrinth Events

June 14 – July 31, 2010

Classic Seven-Circuit Labyrinth at El Monte Sagrado Resort and Spa

Open to the public day and night

317 Kit Carson Road, Taos, NM

www.elmontesagrado.com

July 1 – October 31, 2010

66-foot Diameter Slate Rock Labyrinth at Adobe and Pines Inn. Open daily dawn to dusk. Yoga every Saturday with Paul Kelly at 10 am. 4107 N.M. 68, Ranchos de Taos, NM

www.adobepines.com

July 1 – October 31, 2010

Stone Labyrinth at San Geronimo’s Lodge, 1101 Witt Lane, Taos, NM

Full moonwalks during summer months (June – Sept)

www.SanGeronimolodge.com

July 1 – October 31, 2010

Labyrinth Sacred Space at the First Presbyterian Church

Dedication of Medieval-style labyrinth by Rev. Wayne Mell on Sunday, July 18 at 11 am.

215 Paseo del Pueblo Norte, next to Kit Carson Park, Taos, NM

July 4, 2010, 3 pm

Drumming Labyrinth Walk in the Cretan Labyrinth at Touchstone Inn facing Taos Mountain

110 Mabel Dodge Lane, Taos, NM

www.touchstoneinn.com

July 4 – August 31, 2010

Santa Rosa contemporary labyrinth at the Blumenschein Museum

222 Ledous Street, Taos, NM

www.taoshistoricmuseums.org

July 19 – August 1st

Labyrinth Sacred Space at Kit Carson Park. Hopi Labyrinth design

www.taosgov.com/recreation/kit-carson.php

July 29, 2010, 10 am – 1 pm

“Labyrinths for Creativity and Peace Childrens’ Workshop.”

July 29, 2010, 7- 9 pm

Introduction to Labyrinths: Lecture and walking

Harwood Museum

238 Ledoux Street, Taos, NM

www.harwoodmuseum.org

July 30, 2010

“Birth of the Labyrinth”

Light box and labyrinth-inspired fine art and etchings of Sandra Wasko-Flood

Harwood Museum of Art

238 Ledoux Street, Taos, NM.

www.harwoodmuseum.org

August 23 – October 1, 2010

“Labyrinths for Peace: 2000″ Photo Exhibit. Exhibit of photos of labyrinths from around the world first exhibited at the Rotunda of the U. S. House of Representatives.

Free opening reception; August 28th, 5:30 to 8 pm

Millicent Rogers Museum, Taos, NM.

www.millicentrogers.org

The Four Corners area of the USA (where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet) is rich with ancient cliff-dwellings, rock art, dramatic canyon vistas and native spirits. You can experience all these features in one place if you stop at Canyon de Chelly (pronounced d’SHAY) National Monument, near Chinle, Arizona.

The canyon is in the Navajo Nation, and the Diné people (as the Navajo call themselves) carefully control access. You can drive along the canyon rim and stop at eleven different outlook points, but visitors are only allowed down into the canyon if they’re accompanied by a Navajo guide – except for one place: the 2-1/2 mile trail to White House Ruin is open to the public. It’s about a two hour round-trip hike to the 12th century cliff-dwelling, wedged into a crevice in a 1000 foot cliff.

Perhaps the most spiritual place in the canyon is Spider Rock, and there’s an excellent view from an overlook at the end of the 16-mile South Rim Drive. Jutting 800 feet from the canyon floor, the red sandstone pillar is the legendary home of Holy Spider Woman, who taught the Navajo how to weave. It is said that Spider Woman takes naughty boys and girls to the top of the spire, and that the white specks you can see at the top of the rock are the bleached bones of children who did not obey their parents.

Local Native guides are readily available at the Visitors Center, and they’ll lead you on canyon hikes, horseback or four-wheel drive vehicle tours. We enjoyed a half-day group tour in an open-air, six-wheel drive vehicle from nearby Thunderbird Lodge. We splashed through the water at the bottom of the canyons and made numerous stops to see and learn about rock art, ruins, and Navajo farms.

At Antelope House Ruin there is a left-pointing swastika, painted on the sandstone above the pueblo houses. Hundreds of years before the Nazis corrupted this ancient symbol, it represented the Wheel of Life. On a high ledge to the left of the cliff dwellings is a stunning display of pictograph paintings: human images, a rainbow, concentric circles, zig-zag lines and the herd of antelope that gives the area its name. About a dozen local artists were selling their creations here, and I enjoyed chatting with Maxine, who displayed a beautiful variety of necklaces, earrings and fetish pendants. Other artists sold beadwork, carved kachina dolls, pottery and exquisitely woven Navajo rugs, displayed on blankets spread on flat sandstone rocks, shaded by a row of cottonwood trees.

It’s a pleasant, two-hour drive northwest from Canyon de Chelly to Navajo National Monument, the location of two of the most spectacular Native cliff dwellings in Arizona, but getting to the ruins from the parking lot is a major commitment. Keet Seel Ruin is only accessible by a primitive trail that requires an arduous, day-long trek. Less strenuous, although still rough going, is the five to six-hour round trip hike to Betatakin Ruin. We contented ourselves with a view of Betatakin from the opposite edge of the canyon, an easy ten or fifteen-minute stroll to a viewing platform.

Immediately behind the visitors center is a Navajo sweatlodge, a tiny mud-covered, dome-shaped hogan, fashioned around a framework of logs. Beyond it, a paved pathway meanders across the desert landscape. You walk past scrubby sage bushes and old, twisted juniper trees, and it’s not uncommon to see hawks or turkey vultures soaring overhead. At the overlook, my partner and I were startled by a sudden whoosh as two ravens swooped in front of our faces. We could clearly hear the whistle of wind on their wings as they passed within inches of us, at the canyon’s edge. The 135-room Betatakin village, built in an alcove with a 450′ high arched ceiling, was just barely visible. You’ll need binoculars to make out any details, as the pueblo walls were constructed from the same mocha-colored sandstone as the cliff in which they are sheltered.

It was a sunny Sunday afternoon in early April, and we were lucky to have the place all to ourselves. There was no traffic noise – the main highway is ten miles away – and the silence was profound. Maybe there are powerful spirits living in the canyon, or maybe we were simply able to attune ourselves to the natural energy, but – whatever the reason – it felt very sacred. The Navajo have a phrase, “walk in beauty”, which means to be in harmony with nature. Betatakin and Canyon de Chelly are two of those rare places where you can escape from the 21st century and understand what it feels like to walk in beauty, if only for a few moments.

Robert Scheer is a freelance writer who specializes in spiritual travel to sacred places.